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morning with a daily dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

>> announcer: radio meets television. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. we've got 13 -- 12 minutes to go before the top of the hour. tommy christopher covers the white house for mediaite. he's going to be here in studio with us at the top of the next hour. and we'll get back to your calls about the olympics and the olympic athletes ought to be paying taxes. plus the white house response to the shooting at the sikh temple yesterday. but first, a little reminder, there's some help on the way perhaps for those of you who can't quite put things together at the end of the month and pay all of the bills. looking for some extra income, check out incomeathome.com. they're america's leading work from home business. and they're adding my customers in -- my listeners rather in record numbers. people who have decided that

this is the way to get that extra income at home that they're looking for. and it is something you can do. no matter your age education or experience. you can literally earn money from your own kitchen table using your laptop with a little extra time and coaching you'll get from incomeathome.com. so if you're one of those people living -- sick of living paycheck to paycheck and worried about job security or retirement, if you're looking to earn some extra income from home, part-time or full time, incomeathome.com is the place to go. they're even giving away $1,000 today to somebody just for checking them out. and why not put yourself on the list. check them out at incomeathome.com. that's incomeathome.com. one more take on the olympics before we move on. c.j. out in oakland california. good morning c.j. >> good morning. still listening. >> bill: you and i don't have to agree on everything. >> caller: that's true. on this one, i agree 100%.

i'm a veteran. veterans have to prove they get their benefits. they don't get dental benefits. their families, when they're in the military don't get support. they need support but they don't get it. you know, there are so many -- there is a long list and president obama don't have to reach across the table on this one, you know. they need to review the entire tax code so they don't need to just pick and pluck that they can agree with. >> bill: this is one more loophole right? instead of closing loopholes this is adding a loophole. >> caller: absolutely. >> bill: thank you, c.j. out in oakland california. one other thing i need to touch on because it is so important. i was disheartened yesterday and those of you who follow me on twitter and how do you do that, dan? >> follow us on twitter. go to twitter.com/bpshow. we're at bp show. >> bill: at bpshow. you know how to do that. i only tweet from the white house briefings.

that's my rule. but i tweeted yesterday man. my -- outrage and disappointment at the white house yet again for their response to this shooting, horrible shooting at the sikh temple on sunday morning. and listen to jay carney was like listening -- it was the very same thing they said after the aurora shooting. here is another mass shooting and another guy able to get the high-powered weapons which he should not have been able to buy, able to walk into places that we think are safe. a movie theatre or a church for god's sake. and blow people away and we do absolutely nothing about it. nothing, nothing, nothing! nothing about it. the response from the white house and from the romney campaign from mitt romney was the same as after aurora, colorado. i get so sick of it. our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. our thoughts go out to the

people in aurora, colorado, or in oak creek wisconsin. just outside of milwaukee. but we don't think there's need for any new gun laws. we think we have to enforce the existing gun laws. that's such bs. existing gun laws obviously are not tough enough, are not tight enough particularly when the assault weapons ban which expired in 2004, nothing has happened to that. nothing. nothing, nothing. how can you enforce existing laws when you allow existing laws to expire. existing laws are obviously not good enough. when here is a guy, let's take this latest shooting, he's a one supremacist, he's a member of hate group. he's been followed and known as a member of a hate group for decades and yet he's able to go in and buy semi-automatic pistol, all of the ammunition he needs and go in there. a nut like that. we know what he's going to use the gun for.

a white is supremacist is going to build up an arsenal and eventually use that to kill people who are not white. and kill a lot of people who are not white. we just -- we just turn our head because we're politicians -- so afraid of the nra. it is disgusting, outrageous. it is cowardly. the only politician making any sense on this at all is michael bloomberg from new york. good for him. and a lot of other mayors around the country. you know why the mayors are on this? because they're right on the front lines. they see the impact of the crime and the guns in their community. and because their law enforcement people. they're sheriffs and police chiefs and their line duty officers tell them please do something about the guns. courage from the mayors, cowardice from the people in this town. in washington, d.c. we'll be right back.

>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show."

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ncer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: tommy christopher from mediaite and judd legum from think progress in the next hour of "full court press." love to hear from you on facebook, twitter and by e-mail. we talked about steve king from

iowa. mark stevenson says steve king epitomizes everything the tea republican party is. he's a monster. the american public keeps monsters like this in congress next time i'm seriously considering canada. i slam michael moore for saying he doesn't support president obama. even though he'll vote for him. steve says michael moore is a member of the all or nothing club. so-called progressives who would rather lose if they don't get 100% of everything on their checklist. got that right! harry reid, harvey pine adds what's the difference between harry reid's charges and the birthers? well harry has presented as much evidence as they have. yeah. and also let's not forget president obama did release his birth certificate so why won't mitt romney release his tax returns? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: what do you say? hello, everybody. welcome to the "full court press" this tuesday august 7th. so good to see you today. we've got lots to talk about. and we'll give you a chance to also weigh in by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. coming to you live on current tv from our studio on capitol hill in washington, d.c. how about this. the mass shooting in just about three weeks here and neither mitt romney nor barack obama are willing to even talk about gun

control. why not? what are they afraid of? the nra? it is outrageous that anybody can buy any assault weapon in this country and use it to kill lots of people in sacred sanctuaries like a church. we do nothing about it. disgusting. the we'll get into that and hey a lot more. but first we've got all of the latest today's current news update from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. good morning lisa. >> good morning, bill. good morning everyone. mitt romney is on the trail in illinois today where we can expect him to take a new line of attack against the president. he'll be playing off team romney's new ad out this morning saying president obama ended welfare as we know it. >> under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and train for a job. they just send you your welfare check and welfare to work goes back to being welfare. >> president clinton signed welfare reform, bipartisan reform in '96 which added work

requirement for anyone wanting welfare. now democrats want to make changes that would give states more flexibility. states would be allowed to experiment with welfare to work with a goal of helping families find employment. but republicans claim the new rules would get rid of work requirements giving people a handout they might not deserve. romney's welfare attack starts today and will play out the rest of the week. we're hearing a few more big names that will be speaking at the republican national convention in tampa. rick santorum, general -- jeb bush and rand paul are slated. we're still waiting to hear on a keynote speaker and on romney's choice for v.p. team obama is fighting back against any potential pick sending out a series of e-mails last night to supporters in ohio florida and minnesota. obviously all three states are playing a big role in the veep search with portman pawlenty and rubio on the short list. the e-mail asks people for their opinions and shows the obama camp is getting ready for a

grassroots pushback. more bill after the break. see you then. we have a big, big hour and the i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today... what's my secret for sunday lunch? my little helpers... and 100% natural french's yellow mustard. it has zero calories for me,

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: well, the second mass shooting in just as many weeks but of course, we're not going to do anything, not even going to talk about new gun control legislation. good morning everybody. here we are. it is tuesday august 7. the "full court press" coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv all across this great land of ours. thanks for joining us today. it is good to see you. we've got lots to talk about. and we've got good friend in studio to help us do so.

tommy christopher covers the white house for mediaite. mediaite.com. i'm looking here, it is network lobby.org. that's your own site? >> i have no idea what that is. >> bill: dan? >> what is happening here? >> bill: all i'm saying here, somebody got it wrong. >> we'll have our producer fix that. >> i don't know what that is. >> bill: here we go. tommy, it is -- >> mediaite.com. >> bill: i know. you know. i'm just like the trained chimp. i just read what they put in front of me. i didn't think that was right. tommy, good to see you today. >> good. good to be here, bill. thanks for having me. >> bill: we were at the briefing yesterday together sitting side by side. neither one of us got called on. jay carney ignoring both of us. a lot came out of the briefing to talk about.

appreciate your being here this morning. and of course, not all regular team is here today. peter ogborn is out on a little few days vacation. so dan henning has moved up to the driver's seat today. >> good morning. >> bill: good morning. with the assistance of stevie lee webb who sacrificed a trip to the olympics to help us out this morning. >> there you go. >> bill: you just bounce back. >> i gotta go back straight after this. put me back in the row boat. >> bill: yeah, right. cyprian bowlding our videographer here as always. tommy, this is something that we do all the time without even thinking about it. but there is an organization called career builder that just did a survey among office workers as to what they hate about elevators. and riding in elevators. here is one of the top things on the list. >> the number one thing we found that people say are annoying in an elevator is when people are

speaking on their cell phone. it probably won't work in there anyway so you might want to end the conversation. >> bill: i understand that. it wouldn't be the top of my list but i hate it when people are talking on their cell phones in an elevator. they're so small and you're crammed in there. even if it is just one other person, i think it is rude to be talking on your phone. >> people don't really do that though. >> bill: oh, i've seen it. >> i don't recall being on elevators with people. >> bill: who annoys you about being on an elevator? >> they're usually very hot. >> bill: you know what bugs me the most? the music. or more and more today, the news. they have the little tv screen. >> i love that. i think that's a nice little -- my life is news. i want it to be a little sanctuary. >> how long are you on the elevator for that you're going to have time to watch the news. >> bill: depends on how fast the elevator goes and how high the building is and where you're going.

>> if the elevator gets stuck and they can play an episode of breaking bad while you wait to be rescued, that would be cool. >> bill: one other thing that people don't like about elevators, this surprised me a little bit. >> 16% of workers say they actually purposely close the doors even when they see people running for the elevator. >> bill: they see a fellow worker running and they'll push the close button. >> i wouldn't push the close button but i might act distracted, i'm trying to get to the button but i'm holding things. >> bill: too bad i just missed it. it is interesting. >> you know what annoys me. not elevator related but office related is when you're walking into the office building and somebody holds the door open but they don't hold the door open for you. they hold it open and hand it off to you. you say thank you for what? for kind of almost helping me? i don't get that whole thing. if you're going to hold the door open, hold the door ep, be a gentleman, or let it slam.

>> bill: life's a bitch. tommy christopher here for the beginning of this hour. judd legum from think progress in for his tuesday sessions with judd here on the "full court press." jerry connelly, congressman from virginia will be along in the next hour with us as well. so we've got lots to talk about. let's get right to it. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> on this tuesday other headlines making news, air more olympic tv is the majority result in a "usa today" gallup poll finding a majority of olympic viewers want nbc to air the olympics both live and tape delayed. 52% of respondents don't care if they know the results before seeing the sport and a portion of those would rather see the event live during the day and then maybe again on tape delay in prime time. just 20% of people have tried avoiding results before seeing them in prime time coverage. >> bill: nbc making more money than they ever have on the

olympics. they thought they might lose money. they're going to make money. more viewers than they've ever had. more than beijing. >> they're getting the most -- the harshest criticism i've heard of olympic coverage and yet still hand over first. >> bill: by obviously a small minority. small numbers. >> i think the twitter -- it sort of amplifying. i think us people who are on twitter, we feel like the whole world is run by twitter but it is probably a tiny number of people that are actually doing all of the tweeting. >> the nfl is going to make history in a preseason game this thursday. female referee will take the field for the first time ever. shannon easton has been an official for 16 years in the mideastern athletic college conference and thanks to the current nfl officials lockout that's been called up to the big league to work the san diego chargers/green bay packers game. it is a dream come true for miss

easton. she said back in an interview with "the arizona republic" in 1999 "it may sound crazy but i think i can be in the nfl some day." >> bill: and some day women will be priests too in the catholic church. >> there is a referee lockout. i don't see this though as such a great -- like oh, wow one great step forward for womenkind. i get to be a stab. >> i think it is huge. >> let's not pat ourselves on the back too hard. we couldn't find anybody else. >> bill: i think it is another crack in the glass ceiling. >> i think it is fantastic. >> in hollywood elton john has harsh words for madonna. in her interview with an australian tv station they have been feuding on and off for years but this comment was a big one. he declared madonna's career is over and said that she looks like a stripper. elton says madonna's tour has been a complete disaster. she needs to stop dancing and go

back to making music like she did back in the 1980s if she wants to have any success. >> bill: a little cat fight there. tommy christopher, good to see you. i hope you tweeted out to your followers you were going to be on the "full court press." >> i did. >> bill: very good. let's talk a little bit about the briefing yesterday. it was interesting that the number one topic seemed to be harry reid, right? and the attempt to tie harry reid -- you've written about this to tie harry reid to the white house. what the romney campaign wants to prove is harry reid is being driven by the white house to make the comments that mitt romney may not have paid any taxes for ten years. >> yeah, you know, this is frustrating. when you know, six people asked the same question. you know you know the first time it is asked it will never get an answer. it is weird that the process -- trying to extract like a molar

the enunciation from the white house. and i think the white house is playing its mark. they're not hugging reid but they're not denouncing what he said. they're keeping the issue focused on romney. >> bill: they weren't going to condemn harry. the question i thought was the funniest one was ed henry from fox news, who is a friend but he does work for fox news he said he accused harry reid of making a vicious vicious is the word he used, vicious attack on mitt romney. he didn't say -- cell phones off, he didn't say anything about the fact that rines previs called harry reid a dirty liar. talk about a vicious attack, right? what harry reid said was he told him -- hold on. he also said that mitt romney's late father would be embarrassed by him. that was pretty vicious. >> bill: his late father

released 12 years of tax returns. >> yes. to say he's up in heaven -- >> bill: isn't it pretty clear the romney campaign wants everybody to talk harry reid and forget about mitt romney. >> they want to -- that's not going to happen. what i wrote about yesterday is that's why the romney campaign, they need to draw the white house into this fight because it doesn't matter what harry reid did wrong. at the center of this is always going to be the fact that mitt romney will not release his taxes. won't go away until he releases them. >> unless they can draw the obama -- the white house into it. >> bill: not going to happen. >> they're very smartly avoiding being drawn into it. >> bill: because i think harry reid is absolutely brilliant in what he's doing. he has made -- he's kept it alive. he's made mitt romney's taxes again still the issue and mitt romney might want to be talking about anything, jerusalem or whatever. instead, he's talking about his tax returns. we are too. >> whenever something like this

happens, the first thing is how is it going to come back on us. and so -- >> bill: on us meaning -- >> liberals, democrats whatever. our side. so if harry reid can do this, then clearetically republicans can do this at some time in the future. legitimize this kind of thing. yes, we can be sort of happy for results but is this a door wide open? do we want -- darrell issa to be talking about -- >> bill: he does it all the time. they do it all the time. what about the birther thing? i disagree with you on that. i'm glad to see a democrat with balls for once. i'm glad to see harry reid show some backbone for once. i think he's been much too meek and mild. >> i agree with you on that point. >> bill: something else that came up. by the way here we go. this is conversation we have among friends. we have these conversations in the briefing room and here on the "full court press." join the conversation at 1-866-55-press.

harry reid doing the right thing or should we be condemning harry reid for making an unsubstantiated charge? my biggest disappointment, the second big issue was guns. all right. we had this with aurora, colorado. then we had this now with the sikh -- the sikh temple shooting out in wisconsin. over the weekend. and if you listened, you were there when -- after aurora as was i. if you listened to jay carney yesterday, it was word for word what they said which is nothing. here is typical pabulum we heard yesterday. >> incidents like this are horrific and our hearts go out to the victims and the sikh community in wisconsin. but we cannot lose sight of the fact that there is violence all the time in america and that we need to take concerted action to deal with it. >> bill: translation we ain't going to do nothing. >> that's right. yeah you know -- >> bill: why not? >> everybody's scared to.

i knew that it was hopeless a year ago when you remember that al-qaeda guy got on the tv and said hey you know, terrorists, go buy guns at gun shows. nobody did anything. the republicans, no conservatives. if gun nutri trumps fear of muslims. what hope do we have? >> bill: this -- i'm so tired of hearing them say our hearts and prayers go out. our thoughts go out to all of the victims. do something about it, right? >> yeah. >> bill: look at this guy -- looks like the shooter in wisconsin. member of a hate group. a white supremacist group. what are we doing allowing the people to go out and buy assault weapons and all of the ammunition that they need. you know what they will do with it. chances are -- likely that's what they're going to do with it. >> there are very simple things that can be done. reasonable things.

the assault weapons ban. that people agree on. you saw the poll from frank luntz of nra members and gun owners. a lot of these common sense things, we all agree on and yet the nra puts their fear into the politicians and the politicians do nothing. >> bill: tommy christopher our guest here from mediaite, meed meed -- mediaite.com. he writes good provocative stuff. there is a new ad out from the super pac supporting president obama. we're going to play that ad for you. tommy, you've been writing about it already this morning and talk about it when we come back here on the "full court press" this tuesday morning august 7. hang around. >> announcer: on your radio on tv the "bill press show." new on current tv.

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start you morning with a daily dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour talking politics of the day with tommy christopher. covers the white house for mediaite. great site. former colleague at msnbc founded that site. >> great man. >> bill: he's also the legal analyst for abc news. you see him on the world news often. tommy christopher here in his -- follow his work at mediaite.com and follow tommy on twitter. join the thousands and thousands of tommy christopher followers on twitter at tommy christopher and the chris is with an x. xtopher.

the super pac supporting president obama tommy as you've written this morning is out with a new ad. we'll play the last part of it. it is a steelworker talking about romney at bain capital shutting down his plant and this guy losing his benefits and what happened to -- with his family. >> and then one day she became ill and i took her up to the jackson county hospital and admitted her for pneumonia. that's when they found the cancer. by then, it was stage four. there was nothing they could do for her. and she passed away in 22 days. i do not think mitt romney realizes what he's done to anyone. and i furthermore, i do not think mitt romney is concerned. >> priorities u.s.a. action is responsible for the content of this advertising. >> bill: whoa. that's a pretty hard-hitting ad. first time i heard it. >> that's what i got to watch over breakfast this morning. i was like wow.

priorities u.s.a. is not messing around. >> bill: does it go too far? >> that was my initial reaction. i'm writing a column and still working it out in my head. it is harsh. it is really harsh and like i said before that, first thing i think of is how are they going to do this to us. there is a little trap in this ad because whoever is going to get outraged about it, they're going say what? lots of people lose their benefits. people have lost their jobs under president obama and the economy. you can't blame mitt romney for that but you know president obama signed into law that will provide healthcare to people like that. romney wants to take the law away. >> bill: and romney was ahead of bain capital and shut down the plant. the ad says there are real human consequences to people losing their jobs and losing their healthcare benefits. and maybe tough. but those are the breaks. he should have thought about

that before he shut them down. let's say a quick hello to corky from rochester new york. what's your point quickly? >> caller: the income taxes. >> bill: yeah. >> caller: mitt romney shelters them all overseas. i'm a middle class guy. i don't have a company card. so when i go to dinner, i can't whip out my company card and write that off. i can't write off my kid's shoes. for school that they don't buy anymore. >> bill: i appreciate your call corky. his point is mitt romney is really not like you and me and all of rest of us. >> really? you don't say. he does enjoy aircraft and sport and things like -- that other humans enjoy at least he says so. >> bill: and dressage horses. >> dress an. gotta love dressage. >> bill: come back again soon. tommy christopher from mediaite. mediaite.org. judd legum is next. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

her unique mix of comedy and politics to current tv. >> it's like a reality show, they're just turning cameras on and we just do our thing. >>politically direct to me means no b.s., the real thing, cutting through the clutter. i'm energized to start my show everyday because it's fun, because i care about what's going on in this country, rather than some sort of tired banter it is actual water cooler talk it's the way people really talk about these issues. we've always considered ourselves a comedy show. let me just say i am not ready for my close up. i think it's important to laugh. i think it will be exciting, because you can't script three hours of radio. what is going on? i can't tell you how many times right wingers call the show and say, "i don't agree with anything you say, but your show is funny as hell." the only thing that can save america now, current tv.

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>>it's the place where democracy is supposed to be the great equalizer, where your vote is worth just as much as donald trump's.

we must save the country. it starts with you. >> bill: one of with your favorite features around the "full court press" are tuesdays with judd. judd legum head of think progress at the center for american progress. we always encourage you to do what we do and make that one of your favorite stops several times a day. thinkprogress.org. you will be as up to date as we are on what's happening here in our nation's capital. even when all of the members of the senate and the house are out of town, judd, there's still stuff to talk about. >> we keep going.

we don't stop. >> bill: at least some of us are in town. >> exactly. >> bill: great to see you. thanks again for coming in today. one of the things you've been -- there is a lot of flap and you've been reporting on this over voting in ohio and a lawsuit the obama campaign has filed about some changes made by the legislature and the romney campaign is accusing the obama campaign of trying to restrict the right of members of the military to vote. what's really going on? >> here's what's happening. >> bill: and fox news of course is way involved in this. >> yes. you're going to be hearing a lot about this because they've really latched on to it. essentially what happened was for the last six years in ohio, you could do early voting all the way up until the day before the election. >> bill: right. >> which is a critical time because that gives you your saturday and your sunday if people are -- who have tough schedules are trying to get in

to vote, there are the early voting sites. you can make sure your vote is counting. >> bill: tuesday they realize i gotta take a trip out of town. go in saturday and vote. >> lots of people in ohio were using this. in fact, up to a third of the people voting were using early voting procedures. that includes all of the different kinds absentee ballots. but a third of the people were voting early. so the republican legislature in ohio decided they were going to make a change and essentially they canceled the last three days of early voting for pretty much everyone. except if you were active duty military. so they're still going to have the early voting sites. they're still going to be open but the only way you can get into the site -- if you're active military. what the obama campaign did was file suit.

there's no reason to do this. you should have the sites be open to everyone. and in no way saying that active duty military shouldn't vote in those -- during the three days, they were very explicit. the site should be open to everyone. so they've turned that -- the romney campaign has turned that around and is trying to say well you oppose this special accommodation for military voters. >> bill: let me ask you this. why would the legislature shut down those three days? was there evidence of some massive fraud? >> no. i don't think there's really any good reason which is part of the lawsuit itself as well. is that there's no reasonable rationale for it. but -- >> bill: the only rationale is -- jump in, they seem to be doing not just in ohio but in so many states this year,

everything they can to limit people's right to vote. >> oh, yeah. >> bill: and to restrict it. >> this is going on. pennsylvania has a huge problem. they have these voter i.d. requirements now. could disenfranchise 100,000 people. huge purchases of people -- percentages of people in the philadelphia area. it is going on everywhere. by the way in ohio, it is interesting because they're trying to appeal to patriotism and sort of your -- people's support for the military which is understandable. but of course, veterans aren't covered by this new rule so you have a million -- almost a million veterans, over 900,000 who won't be able to go in the extra three days firefighters, policemen, other people who you might like including the active military who are selfless public servants as well. maybe they've served for 20 years in multiple deployments and would like to vote on the weekend. they cannot. so it really is part of this

nationwide effort to restrict voting and it is scary because it could impact the results of this election. >> bill: all right. so when fox news is not wrongly falsely accusing president obama of trying to take the vote away from men and women in uniform fox news is out there attacking poor little gaby douglas saying she's not a true american, right? >> this one is kind of hard to wrap your head around. i think it stems from the fact that the uniforms that they wear, that the gymnasts wear are not all the time red, white and blue. sometimes they have pink uniforms. sometimes they have purple uniforms. and essentially, it is her failure although she did win the gold medal even as her mother was in bankruptcy, traveled halfway across the country and was embraced by this family who

didn't know her but wanted to support her efforts. pretty much the epitome of everything -- the idyllic america. if only more people could have the opportunity to do this. but doesn't wrap herself in the flag enough and is thus not patriotic. >> bill: when she won the gold medal, as i recall, she had on this shocking pink -- not a light pink but a dark -- >> electric pink. >> bill: electric pink is that what you call it? she had that outfit on. the last time i saw her she didn't do so well on the competition. she had a gray bodysuit. so with fox news, they actually said because she wasn't in red white and blue, that she wasn't doing her job as an olympic athlete. >> it is unclear to me that she would actually even select these outfits because they all wear

matching -- team competitions, they all wear the same, exact uniforms. so it is probably somebody with u.s.a. gymnastics who decides well, this is the best uniform. >> bill: outrageous they would attack her for that. again, what is she? 15 or 16. she doesn't choose the uniforms. reminds me of the flap of the flag on the lapel in the last campaign. >> it is the difference between this cheap patriotism where you have a flag or a pin and the actual spirit of patriotism overcoming adversity taking advantages of the opportunities available to you that gabby douglas really embodies. and so it is kind of amazing that you would take this thing that's very surface level and use that to kind of tarnish the real story. >> bill: and i just want to point out that i am sitting here

today with a purple ralph lauren shirt on which just proves i'm a communist because i don't have red, white and blue on today. i'm not a true american. judd legum from think progress. thinkprogress.org. judd, you reported this week also, here's a headline that you would never expect if you listen to the rhetoric coming out of the romney campaign and the republican right wing. government employment now at lowest point since 1968. really? >> what about the fact that president obama is bringing us a socialist european style of government that's bigger than ever before and more people on the government payroll than ever before. >> this is the story of this economy and sort of -- the fits and starts of the recovery we've seen. you've actually seen fairly steady growth in the private

sector employment. but what's been holding it back is we've been firing teachers. we've been firing firefighters. we've been firing police officers as states and localities let these folks go. we haven't -- we've seen some very modest growth in the federal government but nothing like what we saw under reagan or some of the other -- usually as -- the federal government is trying to push into a recovery, there is a big hiring spree. we haven't seen that. and the result has been if you look at the data, one of the smallest -- or the smallest government employment we've seen since 1968. so it is funny how these arguments about the economy exist in like a parallel universe that has no connection to reality. >> bill: right. >> there are 220,000 less teachers now than there were just a few years ago. as we let go -- as states and

localities are forced to make more and more cuts. that has a real impact both in overall employment and the economy and of course, the long-term future, too because there are still more and more kids who need to be educated. >> bill: it is worth pointing out that in terms of expansion of the federal government, the biggest reason expansion of the federal government occurred under george w. bush with department of education which grew and grew and grew. and expansion of medicare part d. so the federal work force was a lot higher, i forget the exact number under george bush at the end of the term than at the beginning of his term. >> oh, yes. there has been some modest growth but nothing like what we saw under bush and nothing like what we saw under reagan as you know, during that recovery because i think what would generally happens we haven't seen happen here, what generally happens is you use federal government employment to boost

up economic growth and it just hasn't happened. >> bill: when you hear about the federal government bigger than ever in and the federal government bigger than ever, it is another big lie. government employment at the lowest point since 1968. we're talking with judd legum from think progress here on the "full court press." join the conversation at any time. your comments on the things we've been talking about at 1-866-55-press. on a tuesday august 7 we'll be right back with the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! >>oh really? the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and

the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

start you morning with a daily dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour. here as a "friend of bill," reporter for "the washington post." she and i will be talking to congressman jerry connelly from northern virginia. right now we're joined in studio by judd legum. tuesdays with judd. judd legum from think progress. senior editor there. at thinkprogress.org. judd, before we get back into some of the other issues of the day, sue is calling with a quick comment from rockville maryland. just outside of d.c. good morning sue. >> caller: hey, good morning. look the issue with gabby douglas is racism pure and simple. do not waste anymore time on this racist. you and i know that if gabby was white, the discussion would not come up. you need to call it out for what it is. and not waste more than ten seconds saying here is the fox

24/7 racist network. >> bill: sue, i think you said it better than i could say it. i can't disagree. >> the other thing that we saw over the weekend was they were hitting serena williams for doing a little -- doing an inappropriate dance after she won the gold medal in women's singles. so i do think there is a cultural and racial component to this that you can't overlook. >> bill: you can help me out. i'm blanking on her name. we ought to go back and look -- remember the young gymnast woman, girl, a few years back, maybe oh, who was like gabby douglas in the since she became -- >> shawn johnson? >> no. >> dominique dawes. >> farther back. >> bill: look at the tape of

other young gymnasts, right. women, white women and see were they wearing red, white and blue and what fox news said about them is my point. speaking of olympics, we talked about this a little bit earlier. think progress has also covered the fact that marco rubio says that olympic athletes should not have to pay taxes on the prize money they get from the u.s. olympic committee. $25,000 per gold. $15,000 per bronze. $10,000 for a silver -- i got it backwards. $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. and president obama yesterday said he agrees with rubio and he would sign the legislation. >> yeah, i think this is one of those cases where politics gets in the way of common sense. for the most part. because only the very wealthiest athletes, somebody like a michael phelps who is a multi-millionaire is going to pay any taxes on this money.

because you can deduct all of your costs for training, for travel which are tremendous to become any kind of olympic athlete. >> bill: sure. >> so for everyone except the very top couple of athletes who have a big profile they are going to be -- they're not going to have to pay any taxes on their prize money already. so essentially what you're doing is because you don't want to seem unpatriotic or whatever, marco rubio is trying to make this out to be. you're just giving another tax break to the very wealthy and we've seen this again and again. >> bill: i hate to be a contrarian but i'm proud of our olympic athletes. i'm also proud of our team nasa that put the curiosity rover on the planet mars. why should they have to pay taxes on their salary. i'm proud of our men and women in the military.

wearing the uniform every day. why should they have to pay taxes? but they do. and i'm proud of -- you know, the ironworkers and steel workers and autoworkers of this country and they pay taxes on every dollar. i don't see this creating another loophole for olympic athletes. >> there is a danger in saying if we like what we do, if we're proud of what you do, then you don't pay taxes. because you pay taxes -- it isn't something that's a punishment for doing something that we don't think is productive enough or patriotic enough. >> bill: yeah. teachers give homework, right? so yeah. they have to pay taxes right. but firefighters put out the fire in your house so they don't have to pay. yeah, you can go into this whole thing. i was a little disappointed to see the white house -- >> i think it is just -- politics. they're in the middle of an election season. rubio's clearly hit on a very potent issue. you've got everybody at home

watching the olympic athletes. and that's what happens. >> before we let you go, one quick word. a minute on medical marijuana. the justice department, particularly in california has been out of control clamping down on medical marijuana dispensaries. are they going to ease off? >> it doesn't look that way. this is a story we'll be tracking and it is a big story because what they're doing now is essentially, especially in california, they're going to the landlords of these legal medical marijuana dispensaries that are legal under state law and saying because you are renting your property to a medical marijuana dispensary, we're going to seize -- if you don't evict them, we're going to seize your assets. and so we're going to seize your property. so you could lose your property. now obviously this would be a huge thing for a landlord. this could be your sole source of income. it could be your wholest nest egg

anything. you have a couple of people in congress proposing bills to essentially say you can't do these kind of civil forfeitures ins they of these circumstances where the dispensaries are legal under state law. >> bill: i hope they succeed. we have higher priorities than shutting down medical marijuana dispensaries. judd legum thanks for coming in. we'll see you next tuesday. tuesdays with judd on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." dose of politics from a fresh perspective. e. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

rr [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. three minutes to go before the top of the hour.

nia maleka henderson from "the washington post" in studio as a "friend of bill" next hour and we'll be joined by congressman jerry connelly from northern virginia. president today getting his daily briefing at 11:00. joe biden is on vacation over at rijo both beach delaware the president meets with the white house rural council to discuss efforts to provide relief forethe drought. at 4:30, he will be meeting with secretary of defense leon panetta. he's off to attend two different campaign events at the w hotel just around the corner from the white house here in washington d.c. jay carney will be on duty today. his daily briefing schedule for 1:30. and i'll be there tweeting from the briefing. so check it out! >> announcer: this is the "bill w."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey hello everybody. welcome to the "full court press" this tuesday august 7. good to see you today. thank you so much for joining us. we've got lots to talk about. news happening here in our nation's capital around the country, around the globe and in outer space we've got it all covered and one of the big exciting stories this morning the republican national committee has released a list of speakers at the big republican convention down in tampa. and what's interesting is who is not on the list.

no michele bachmann. no herman cain. no ron paul. no newt gingrich. no sarah palin and no donald trump. what a disappointment. i mean this is the circus. where are all of the clowns? we'll talk about that and a whole lot more here but first let's take time out to get the latest today's current news update from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. hi, lisa, good morning. >> hi, bill, good morning. good morning everyone. the obama campaign is out with a new web video this morning asking people to use their new tax calculator to compare the president's plan to mitt romney's. here's what they found. >> taxes under obama and -- >> the average middle class family would save about $2200 under the president's plan but spend an extra $640 under romney. new details coming out in the

case of the wisconsin shooter. the ap is reporting this morning that wade michael page encouraged other white supremacists to act. page often posted comments online and last year, he wrote if you are wanting to meet people get involved and become active. stop hiding behind the computer or making excuses. for detectives, this could add to the evidence that page was a known white supremacist who wanted his beliefs carried out by action. seven people are dead including page after he strolled into a sikh temp well a nine millimeter handgun. despite page's background, it seems he was able to legally buy the gun at the shooter shop in wisconsin on july 28th. this latest shooting obviously coming just two weeks after a gunman killed 12 people in aurora colorado. president obama said yesterday the shootings are happening too often and americans should do some soul searching but he and practically every other politician in washington are still stopping short of calling for new gun legislation. more bill press after the break

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: yep, michele bachmann takes the american flag down. replaces the american flag >> bill: the second mass shooting within three weeks. we're still not going to do anything about gun control. neither barack obama nor mitt romney will touch it. it is tuesday august 7. great to see you today. we've got one final hour of the "full court press" here for this tuesday morning with lots and lots to talk about. we're coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours on your local progressive talk station and of course on current tv. lots to talk about. nobody better to help us cover

the ground, particularly on the political front than nia malika henderson, senior political reporter for "the washington post." nia malika, welcome back. >> great to be here. >> bill: out on the road with mitt romney. how did you miss the trip to poland? >> i know. how did i miss that? i think mitt romney is wishing he will missed it at this point because it was so filled with gas. he's back here -- with gaffes. he's going on the bus tour later on this week to four important swing states, ohio, florida virginia and i'm missing one. >> bill: colorado. >> that's right. >> and north carolina. >> bill: that one. isn't it interesting that he and president obama keep going to the same states? it is a coincidence? >> coincidence. nobody is going to mississippi or south carolina. my home state. this is a campaign that's all about nine or ten swing states.

we know all of the states. >> bill: the romney campaign says that the media is unfairly -- did unfairly pay attention to -- paid too much attention to the gaffes on the foreign trip. blaming it alla newt gingrich on the media. >> which is always a go-to strategy for republicans and you know it doesn't take away the focus from this trip. even republicans said wasn't so great. pegny noonan had a column in the "wall street journal" that said it was a waste of his time. any day he's not talking about the economy is a waste of his time. it was a bad showing for him. he is of course trying to turn the page at this point. but again, this question of his tax returns it keeps coming up. i'm sure we talked about this last time i was here and i'll bet the next time i'm here, we'll talk about it again. >> bill: and today. my comment on the trip was if you don't -- his comments about the media is you don't want

negative coverage, then don't say dumb things. right? easy rule. >> that's probably right. >> bill: nia malika henderson here for the full hart as a "friend of bill." we'll be joined by gerry connolly later in the hour. we start out, of course with dan henning. but first -- >> this is the "full court press". >> some other headlines making news. the supreme court justice is taking a stroll down sesame street. sonia sotomayor has tape an appearance on the 43rd season of the children's program. political reports in a segment called word on the street, her word which she talks about is career. the pbs show also announced plenty of other stars will appear this upcoming season including halle berry melissa mccarthy, don cheadle steve carell david hyde pierce and david stonestreet among others. >> bill: that will be fun. career. she's had a good one.

>> nice to get invited on that show. >> you know you've made it when you get invited to be on sesame street. it is not a performing enhancement drug but marijuana will get you kicked out of the olympics. that's what american judo fighter found out yesterday. he says he ate brownies in the u.s. before leaving for the olympics not knowing that they were, in fact, pot brownies. he says he was embarrassed by the mistake apologizing yesterday. he's the first athlete to get kicked out for a positive drug test during instead of ahead of the competition. >> bill: what state is he from? do we know? >> i'm not sure. in some states california, you have a brownie. it has pot in it. >> it was a medical brownie you see? >> despite criticism about olympic coverage, nbc would not change a thing. advertising age reports they've gotten the most viewers since montreal in 1976. earned over a billion dollars in

ad sales and the company's on track to surpass its ratings guarantee to its advertisers by close to 20%. advertisers are very very happy. >> bill: so all of the twitter noise, right about lousy coverage and everything at nbc is laughing all the way to the bank. >> i'm tuned in even when i know who is going to win, you want to see it. >> bill: absolutely. so nia malika henderson, one of the fun parts about the -- looking up to the conventions yesterday, the republican national committee released a list of some of the speakers at the republican national convention. now, they include three women that are going to showcase. nikki haley, the governor of your home state. >> that's right. south carolina. >> bill: susanna martinez. >> new mexico. >> bill: from new mexico. and condy rice, former secretary of state. they haven't announced a keynote speaker yet. >> right. >> bill: and also rand paul is

going to get a speaking spot as well as rick santorum. >> that's right. and i think those speaking will probably be at 1:00 in the morning. i don't expect that these are the folks they want to really highlight. you talk to -- about the three women. they really need to showcase some diversity. these are women of color. and that's what the party needs to put forward. in some ways as a republican party at the top ranks at least among governors is a little bit more diverse in the democratic party, the lower ranks of course, if you go to any romney event, it is primarily all white. so they want to showcase -- in some ways, this party that is a bit more diverse and certainly attract women because they've got this big deficit. >> bill: i've been to many republican conventions. if you look across the floor at a republican convention, it is like meeting of old white folks. i'm sorry, it is. >> it's true. that's how romney events are as well. but they have to give a

different prime time public face to the convention. >> bill: here's what i find interesting. notice who is not on the list, okay. it does not include michele bachmann no herman cain, no rick perry so far as i know. no newt gingrich. no sarah palin. >> no sarah palin. >> bill: and no donald trump. >> that's right. i think donald trump -- >> bill: no ron paul. >> i think ron paul is going to have a counter demonstration. >> bill: they're trying to keep the clowns out of the circus. >> i think donald trump is saying what about me? he's getting some award in sarasota florida statesman of the year award. he's telling reporters and everyone who will listen he's very much wanted as a speaker there but we'll have to see. >> bill: if they give him a slot, they're out of their minds. >> i think -- we'll see obviously. it seems to me he probably won't get a slot but he'll certainly be there and i think he'll be making some noise to reporters and on the shows and talking about all of the convention.

but a slot, i don't think so. >> bill: let me tell you who else is not there. that's bobby jindal is not there. rob portman is not mentioned. neither is paul ryan and neither is tim pawlenty. maybe they're on a different list? >> maybe they're on a different list. chris christie, too. people are sort of starting to talk again about him and how he would energize the ticket but in some ways, he's seeming to have fallen off that short list of veeps that haven't really changed. we've been talking about the same people for the last month or so. and you almost imagine that if this thing comes out and it is pawlenty or portman that they'll be sort of like -- i shave my legs for this moment and in a sense it won't be very exciting. and it will be a bit of a letdown. certainly not going to provide the energy that you saw from sarah palin. >> bill: the republican party can go out again this year with two white men? >> that's a good -- last time they can do that. you remember obviously in 2008 you can say what you want about

the choice of palin but at least there was an acknowledgement from john mccain that the party has to look different at the topic. that includes some women some different sorts of folks. but all of the people on this list with the exception of jindal who looks like he's -- you know, a distant fourth on this list. it looks like the people they are looking at are white men and you know this is a party that is facing grand demographic shifts more latino voting. obviously african-americans as well and they haven't been able to gain any traction with any of the groups. >> bill: so what -- you're close to the campaign. meaning you've traveled with mitt romney. you were in nevada, the big speech before he went to europe. you were in ohio with him before then. what are you hearing -- in terms of the timing -- now is this bus tour, is that the v.p. announcement tour as well? >> it doesn't seem like it is. i've talked to people in the romney campaign and people

around tim pawlenty, for instance. the date i keep hearing is the week of the 20th. so next week, they'll kick off the bus tour on saturday. they'll give some shine. rubio is going to be out there. portman is going to be out there. mcdonald will be out there. he mentioned initially on the short list there. his name really isn't in the mix at any point that i've heard at this point. so i think we still have a week -- they want to drag this out. they've got their iphone app and their android app and they're raising money off of this and they've also been able to elevate all of these surrogates into the conversation and almost national spokespeople for romney and for the party. so i think they want to drag that out as long as they can. >> bill: nia malika henderson in studio with us, senior political reporter for "the washington post." >> you gave me -- that was a bump up there. >> bill: a little bonus there. >> bill: senior national political reporter fore"the washington post." follow her at postpolitics.com.

president obama he's doing at least -- it seems two campaign events a day. even if it is not an entire campaign day he squeezes two campaign events in at the end of the day like he did yesterday in connecticut and he will do today here in washington, d.c. and he came up with a new phrase last night. a lot of talk about mitt romney's plan, tax plan, particularly after the tax policy center last week reported their independent study that his plan would in fact, give a tax break, extra tax break to the wealthiest of americans but raise taxes on middle class families. president obama came up with a new twist on that last night. here he is at a fund-raiser up in stanford, connecticut. >> he asked the middle class to pay more in taxes so he could give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. [crowd booing]

>> it is like robin hood in reverse. it is romney hood. >> stephanie: romney hood. >> it is very clerve. clever. >> this might have originated -- i feel like bill burton over at priorities u.s.a., maybe a week ago. he sort of debuted this phrase of romney hood and i think it is something that you're going to hear from democrats this idea of it that romney wants to take from the poor and give to the rich. it is perfectly in with the argument they've been making all along and certainly this tax report that was out last week seems to confirm this idea that 95% of people will actually have -- see their taxes go up whereas people like mitt romney and president obama obviously under this tax plan would get a tax cut. >> bill: right. the president says 98%. i didn't realize bill burton gets the credit for that because i think it is a very -- i think

it could have legs. >> i think so. >> bill: romney hood. people get it. the opposite of robin hood is romney hood. now see, nia malika, i was giving the president for that. i thought he sort of came up with it. >> bill: before we take a break, is harry reid doing the right thing? >> absolutely politically! he is doing the right thing. this is very smart. he has engaged romney on this. harry reid is a boxer! i think he's been able to land a pretty swift blow on romney because romney has taken the bait which was incredibly foolish, i think for him to engage in this conversation, no upside for him. he goes out and says -- reid needs to put up or shut up when really the only way there can be any putting up or shutting up is if romney puts out his tax returns. of course you've heard republicans really jump on reid

and call him a dirty liar. i think reid is just laughing at the whole thing because he has done what he set out to do which is put the focus on mitt romney's taxes. >> bill: absolutely. what is romney talking about? his tax returns. >> exactly. >> bill: harry reid on vacation. keep it up. all right. harry reid is not going to go away. neither is nia malika henderson. we saved that seat at the table for you. at 1-866-55-press. it is the "full court press" on current tv. and your local progressive talk radio station. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! (vo) cenk uygur is many things.

(vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! ughhh. trash builds up and can make your dishwasher smell. over time, grease and residue get stuck inside. for an intensive clean use finish dishwasher cleaner. it's taking out the trash for your dishwasher. break the ice with breath-freshening cooling crystals. ice breakers.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current >> announcer: radio meets television, the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> bill: congressman gerry connolly from northern virginia will be joining us in the next segment here. us meaning me, bill press and nia malika henderson national political reporter for "the washington post." i really want to get gerry connolly's take on the tax vote in the house. >> yeah. >> bill: that's basically where it has to happen. the senate has already said we'll give the 98% of americans a tax break. >> right right. >> bill: we'll decide what to do about the top 2%. the house hasn't been willing to go along. we'll get gerry connolly's insights on that. we were talking about the fact that harry reid has mitt romney on the ropes a lot not just a little bit. in terms of releasing his tax

returns. nia malika, jim in larchmont new york, has a quick comment on that. or a question. >> caller: good morning, bill. yeah, here's my thought regarding mr. romney and his tax returns. this may be some type of chivalry. let me explain. even his greatest -- the man is a great husband loving husband lovely family. now if he did anything untoward with his income taxes and his wife cosigned the taxes then if they're both liable to prosecution, she has ms unfortunately she does. and a person with ms, i've done a lot of medical reading or so, relapses can be enhanced by stress although you would think that the stress of a presidential campaign would be pretty stressful. is it possible he knows that he's done bad and she's cosigned this stuff and out of a sense of chivalry, he's trying to protect his wife?

>> bill: you know, jim? i have to tell you i admire very much your looking for the most charitable possible twist on this refusal to release the tax returns. i don't think so. >> i don't know. this has been mitt romney's stance going way back. he hasn't wanted to release them for whatever reason. maybe there's something bad in there. maybe it is just the businessman in him that feels like it is nobody's business. but it is going to continue to dog him throughout this campaign. you've seen reid out there freelancing for the democrats on this and getting a rise out of everyone. but i appreciate that story. >> bill: here is the question though. the question is what did john mccain see in those tax returns -- >> that made him pick sarah palin? >> bill: pardon me, sarah palin, the wild card over mitt romney, the safe bet? there had to have been something

in those tax returns. and again, i don't know that. i'm not making a harry reid accusation here. nobody knows except mitt romney. except his accountant. >> i think at one point, he had said and of course, he was on the vetting committee and he said what's in those tax returns wouldn't be familiar to most americans. his tax returns don't look like the average american which we already know that. he pays a pretty low tax rate. but listen, they judge that keeping -- close to the chest is better than playing this game of back and forth. >> bill: he either paid zero taxes or he paid less than 13.9%. he paid so little he would be embarrassed about this. there has to be some reason. >> he said he's happy to look. he will get back to us. >> bill: gerry connolly joins us next. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: joe cirincione is our guest from the ploughshares fund on the "full court press." joe, never have enough time. only a couple of minutes left. we were talking cyber warfare. based on the story from "the new york times" that the united states has engaged in it successfully, it appears against iran's nuclear weapons program. where is this all going, joe? >> there is a new generation of the cyber warfare just been detected, a program called flame. apparently designed by the same people who

did a bigger program. several tens of megabytes that infected iranian systems but is spreading to other computers. very interesting. it doesn't disrupt the computers. it just absorbs information. not only from the computer. it can use blue trot technology to tap into nearby blackberries for example and dump and gather all of the information, photos address books, stuff like that. so it becomes -- all of a sudden computers look a lot more sinister than they do when apple is showing off the wonderful things we can do with computers. >> bill: but it looks like the future of our nation now is not going to be in these brave warriors who go out and get their physical training and so tough. it is going to be computer geeks. >> increasingly, national security analysts turn to this threat. steven coe has a great article on it. richard clark has written a new book called cyber warfare, the security. seriously.

>> bill: i guess you know my feeling, too, is if there is going to be cyber warfare, i want to be at the front lines and i want to win but i also want to do it right. that's the question. we don't have any rules for cyber warfare yet. >> we don't. as we engage in these, it is talking about it. it is something we could regret later on.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 33 minutes after the hour. on tuesday august 7. it is the "full court press." we're coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours. coast-to-coast on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv. in studio with us, national political reporter for "the washington post," fresh off the campaign trail with mitt romney, nia malika henderson. always good to have you back. thank you. we are joined right now with congress in recess but still a lot on their plate that they haven't accomplished and sort of left on their plate before they left town, to find out what's going on, what we can expect if

anything from the congress between now and either november 6th or january 1. we're joined by congressman gerry connolly representing virginia's 11 congressional district. a good democrat, of course. congressman, good to have you with us. >> good to be with you. >> bill: let's start with tax cuts. a lot of talk about taxes lately. the senate says in a bipartisan fashion, unusual for them, 98% of americans deserve a tax cut starting january 1 and we're going to give it to them. what can we expect out of the house? >> well, you know, the house passed a bill to extend all of the bush tax cuts for one more year after two democratic bills which i supported basically mirroring the senate action failed. this is an issue i think that's going to get kicked into the lame duck session.

it is highly doubtful that congress is going to be able to resolve the differences before the election and frankly from my point of view, i don't think the republicans want to resolve the issue before the election. we only have eight legislative days between now and november 6th. >> bill: eight legislative days in september and october? >> that's right. >> bill: boy how do we get that schedule, congressman? [ laughter ] >> there's the julian calendar and the gregorian calendar and then there's the congressional calendar. >> yes. i want to be on that calendar. >> bill: oh, my god. so are republicans really going to go into this election -- i just heard you say this. i just want to establish it again. they're really willing to go into this election saying, in effect we're willing to let taxes go up on 100% of the american people unless the very wealthy get a tax cut. >> that is their position. >> bill: nia malika, go

figure. >> i think there is going to be a lot of inaction as representative connolly said. only eight days left. that might be a good place for mitt romney to be. this sort of fuzzy inaction around many issues and it seems like republicans are going along with that. >> they are. it is kind of monstrous cynicism at of the aisle. take -- they're the ones who refused for the first time in american history to provide a clean debt ceiling to this president. >> bill: right. >> they're the ones who created the subcommittee as a result which of course they guaranteed would fail because they wouldn't put revenue on the table. they're the ones who created this sort of damocles called sequestration which means $1.2 trillion kick in as cuts, half defense, half civilian come january 1. after doing all of that, they then turn on obama and claim it is his fault. he needs to do something.

and that's the monstrous cynicism behind all of this. it is a little bit like the man who kills his parents and throws himself at the mercy of the court because he's an orphan. >> there was a story in "the new york times" yesterday or over the weekend that said corporations are sitting on all of this cash and they don't want to invest in hiring because of the fear of this fiscal cliff and because of what is essentially inaction on the part of folks in congress. >> i think that's a fact for sure and it is very ironic given the fact in 2010 it was the republicans who claim the uncertainties of unresolved issues was a drag on the economy. they're the ones now creating this uncertainty and it is deliberate. they think they can position this to their advantage. i happen to think they're wrong. but that's what they're doing. they're really playing with the united states economy right now. >> bill: right. you're right. i hear john boehner all the time talking about uncertainty the problem with uncertainty

uncertainty. you're right. they're the ones creating the uncertainty by the sequestration or their failure to act on this or that. in fact, congressman, hearing you talk about the eight days, isn't this sort of setting up president obama to run against the do nothing congress? i know people may think democrats and republicans are equally responsible but we know they're not. norm ornstein proved in his latest book that they're not. but something can be said about this congress and its failure to act on many, many issues. >> yeah. i completely agree with what you just said, bill. first of all, the idea that we're both equally to blame is just frankly flabby thinking on the part of some in the media. and norm ornstein and man pointed that out in his great book that actually you can lay the blame at one of the two parties. it is republican party. if you look at the 111th congress which democrats

controlled, it was one of the most productive going back to lyndon johnson. you look at the 112th congress under republican control in the house, it is one of the least productive congresses going back to the do nothing congress of harry truman. >> bill: who ran against the do nothing congress and had the big upset victory in '48. >> what do you make of virginia, important state obviously for romney and obama. they're fighting hard there. romney is going to be there over the next couple of days. what does obama have to do? what does cain have to do to keep that state blue in november? >> first of all, virginia for the really only the second time in the last 48 years is competitive and it has turned purple in large part because of changing demographics, changing education level high-paying high-tech jobs especially in the northern part of the state. so virginia's going to be in play. right now, the president is well-positioned to carrying the commonwealth of virginia for the second time in a row. almost every single poll for the

last seven or eight months has shown him with a lead. so i think that's good news for the president and good news for the senate candidacy of former governor tim kaine. >> bill: congressman your district in northern virginia, it has been -- not an expert on politics but you were able to pick up what had been a safe republican seat. and hold on to it, right? >> yes. >> bill: so what did democrats have to do -- what did you learn democrats have to do in virginia to win? >> well, i think if we position ourselves correctly and tell the story of what we've been trying to do and what this president has been doing i think it resonates with virginia. virginia has done better than most states in the depths of the recession and faster in the recovery. we also frankly benefit from the presence of federal government. about a third of our entire state economy is directly attributable to federal spending.

military defense national security and the civilian sector with a lot of outsourcing for high tech services. >> bill: right. that's -- direct benefits so people see the direct benefit. >> absolutely. if i could say, bill, the republican bashing of the federal government and federal employees is not a popular thing in large parts of virginia. >> bill: congressman jerry connolly is our guest. he represents the 11th congressional district in virginia. nia malika henderson in studio with us. congressman, i don't want to get you in trouble but i guess i do. i want to at least ask you so with this shooting at this sikh temple on sunday, the second mass shooting in this country within the last three weeks and yet i was at the white house briefing yesterday. and it is pretty clear it is very clear that neither barack obama nor mitt romney are willing to say or do anything about new gun control laws or tightening up our existing laws in any way. what's going on and why

shouldn't we? >> i can't speak for either of those two campaigns. but i will just tell you that i believe we can and should have a reasonable dialogue about reasonable controls on dangerous weapons in america. how many tragedies do we need before we can restart that conversation. nobody wants to take away anybody's right to guns. nobody wants to invalidate the second amendment. but the conventional wisdom we have right now any kind of even discussion about it is a threat to second amendment rights. does a disservice to the country and i don't think really reflects popular opinion. we have to talk about this. and build a consensus in the country about what constitutes reasonable measures. even the likes of antonin scalia invited that actually in his extraordinary opinion in heller. >> bill: right.

he said also in an interview on part of his book tour just last week, i think that some restrictions are definitely coming and will come and it is just a matter of judging like each one individually. he didn't say no way no how. >> that's right. even he has admitted that as self-proclaimed originalist whatever that actually means but he himself had to admit the constitution and the founders never envisioned the scope of modern weaponry. i mean -- does everyone have the right to have a shoulder fired rocket launcher in their house? >> you've heard republicans and conservatives, bill crystal said a similar thing the idea of the very high-powered machine guns that can mow down people very quickly, do you expect that this conversation is going to happen from romney and obama or do you feel like there's just going to be a focus on the economy?

>> conventional wisdom has descended on our -- that conventional wisdom is to touch this issue is like the third rail in politics. sadly, i don't think we're going to have that dialogue. but i think below the surface there actually is something boiling up and we've had leaders like michael bloomberg of new york who had the courage to speak out. many of our urban mayors who see the results of gun violence on the streets of their cities. >> bill: yeah, if the mayors of the country who are showing courage on this issue and the police chiefs and the sheriffs and the law enforcement who were behind the mayors in saying we need to do something to keep the guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. congressman, thank you so much for your time. come in and see us in the studio sometime. >> love to do it. gerry connolly represents virginia's 11th congressional district. very thoughtful member of congress. we'll continue our conversation with nia malika henderson. one man we left off the vice

presidential list, paul ryan won't be happy. join the conversation any time. 1-866-55-press. >> and you think it doesn't affect you? think again. >> this court has proven to be the knowing, delighted accomplice in the billionaires' purchase of our nation. >> and you think it doesn't affect you? think again.

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start you morning with a daily dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv. >> announcer: on your radio, on tv the "bill press show." new on current tv. >> bill: 12 minutes to go now before the top of the hour here. on the "full court press." and you know, we're not going to be able to cover everything in this one hour together we have

with nia malika henderson but you can follow both of us on twitter. nia malika at niawapo for "washington post" of course. and you can follow me at bpshow. >> you got it. live from the white house briefing room later today. >> bill: tweeting live from the white house briefing room with all of my irreverent comment with things that jay carney has to say. i always wait for the call from the white house saying what are you doing here? >> they push back, i'm sure they push back. >> bill: i just sit there and basically, bs. >> i love your tweets. the fcc does not monitor your twitter feed. i'll just leave it at that. very fun to follow. >> bill: it is a good thing because i don't -- words i can't say on radio or tv i can say on twitter. >> there are a lot of colorful language you're using? curse words?

>> bill: i would call it colorful. [ laughter ] before we move on, kathleen is calling from chicago. hi kathleen, good morning. >> caller: good morning. >> bill: what's up? >> caller: okay, try this on for size then you can go back talking about the president. you got 50 states this is talking to the gun laws. you got 50 states, you got mayors in each state. you've got representatives in each state. you've got two senators in each state. what about these people doing their job with this gun law? why can't each state do their own gun laws? get it together. what are they doing? i notice every president -- everybody is delegating their jobs to this president. this president needs help! he told you all i cannot do this alone. bloomberg, he's talking about pot. why doesn't he talk about guns in his state? you all do your jobs. the president can sign it into law. >> bloomberg, in his defense is

talking about -- this is good stuff. >> bill: listen. i just want to say i have obama's back more than anybody else. i believe. i mean i support the man 100%. but he's not doing what he ought to do about guns is my point. bloomberg is. >> bloomberg is. and i think in your city, chicago, that has been racked by gun violence over the last months this summer and you know i think you probably need to look to rahm emmanuel to see what he's doing there. there is a coalition of mayors that are speaking out about this and taking some leadership on it. >> bill: the truth of it is mayors can do what they can do. governors can do what they can do. but you need a federal law on assault weapons and we had a federal law on assault weapons and you know, it expired in 2004. let's just start there and bring that back and the president could make it a priority and say i really want congress to do this.

he just hasn't done it. i'm sorry. i do have to ask you, thank you kathleen and nia malika. we didn't talk about paul ryan. >> house we forget about paul ryan? >> bill: he is, apparently on the list. so would romney even consider puts the guy who wants to gut medicare, gut medicaid, you know if not social security, the author of the ryan budget? >> hard to believe he goes to congress and gets a representative. i think that would -- didn't barry goldwater do that with miller? mondale did that with ferraro but it looks a little small ball. also he raises the point about the ryan budget and he's so heavily identified with the tea party. you've seen from mitt romney he doesn't want to engage -- he wants to keep the tea party at arm's length, get that energy but also sort of be able to position himself as a moderate but you know people like bill crystal are asking mitt romney to go bold. look at paul ryan and look at

rubio. >> bill: look at marco rubio. rubio is not on the small list and yet he's the rising star. >> jeb bush very much wants him in the number two slot. i think a more likely slot for him this time around is going to be getting the key -- giving the keynote speech at the republican convention. he's obviously cuban. that will be an important constituency energizing hispanics. he's from florida. he's the future of the republican party. i think in the way that they wanted to showcase obama in 2004 when he was a rising star, i think this might be a good year for rubio as well. >> bill: and democrats the mayor of san antonio. it would be a nice parallel. >> exactly. >> bill: oh, my politics, so much fun. all the more fun with you nia malika henderson. >> great to be here. >> bill: again, you can ka follow her at niawapo on

twitter. i've got the parting shot coming up next. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >>oh really? >>"if you ever raise taxes on >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: on this tuesday august 7, my parting shot for today, you know for the last week, of course, we've been celebrating the success of our olympic athletes on the ground in london but now we have to also celebrate america's phenomenal success in outer space. yes, that landing of the rover curiosity on mars was far from another routine space mission. it was years in the making. it took over eight months to get there covering 352 million

miles! totally remote controlled, required a complicated combination of parachute and a crane never before attempted to reach the surface of mars. and think about this. it was the first time ever in history we could actually watch ourselves land on another planet. what a great great accomplishment! congratulations to all of the good people of nasa and to california's jet propulsion laboratory. they made all of us americans justifiably proud! that's my parting shot for today. i'm bill press. tomorrow we'll be joined by eliot spitzer from current tv, also by wayne powell, a democratic candidate for congress who is going to unseat and upset eric kantor in november. you just watch! see you back here again tomorrow.